It was exciting to see the celebration of the new century across the world and the efforts made by Paris, London, New York, Washington D.C. and a number of other cities in the U.S and the world. But take the huge city of Los Angeles and all it had to offer was lighting the HOLLYWOOD sign with the switch that was in the Frankenstein movie…whooopie!!! Why is the City of the Dead do this kind of thing? A city this size can’t even get a professional football team to go there. Mayor Riordan gives himself an A+ for his work as mayor. Any comments?
Ich weiss nicht was solles bedeuten das Ich so traurig bin.
I think it would be a good idea for LA to hire Pasadena (my town!) as it’s proxy each New Year’s.
In fairness, LA (and California) have always been screwed by international time zones. Winners are declared in National elections before we (with, suppossidly, the largest vote) even get a chance to gett to the polls. We’ve never seen Saturday Night LIVE! And the rest of the world is asleep by the time we celebrate the New Year. Makes it kinda hard to get to excited about the whole thing. Why spend a bunch of money on something few people are going to stay up and watch?
CNN said the reason y’all didn’t have fire works was that there had been dry conditions and fires. Then also pointed out that the weather was wet with no winds on New Year’s Eve, so the fireworks probably could have gone off without starting any more fires.
L.A.'s lack of New Year’s Eve festivities stem from several factors:
The area is really big and there is no central meeting place. The City of Los Angeles had FIVE different City-sponsored New Year’s Eve parties throughout the city. They didn’t draw big crowds because the weather was cold and damp (by LA standards, it was in the 40s)
The Rose Parade (it’s not the Rose Bowl Parade) and the Rose Bowl in Pasadena always draw people to Jan. 1 as the big day to celebrate.
While it did rain on 12/31, it hadn’t rained any other day in December, there had been major forest fires and no one knew it was going to rain until 12/31. So, there wasn’t a lot of time to plan a fireworks show.
Few West Coast cities had big New Year’s Eve parties. San Francisco scaled its back. Seattle cancelled almost all of it.
New Year’s Eve isn’t as much when you’re time zone #17 to celebrate it in the world.
I would add Item 6: Because LA just basically sucks.
No disrespect meant to you LA Dopes, and I’m honestly not trying to start an argument, but I lived (if you could call it that) in LA for five HELLISH years - each one worse than the last. Thank Goddess I escaped that black hole!
Well, that’s one word for it…
StoryTyler
“Not everybody does it, but everybody should.” I Spy Ty.
A different perspective: how many Angeleños are upset that their tax dollars did not go to hype an event that occurs every twelve months except that this year had more zeroes in the number?
How many N’Yawkers are delighted at the amount that their beloved Giuliani spent (or had to spend) to allow controlled rioting in the streets just because we rolled another year on the etometer?
First of all, it was not a contest between cities and nations. I am glad we did not "
SHOW UP" anybody because Americans are unpopular enough thru out the World.
I couldn’t agree with you more Skelton. We are one of the most important cities on the planet and all we could deliver was the lighting of the Hollywood sign. Forget the fireworks, how about if they had used some Hollywood technology…special effects a laser show, something, anything.
What we had was embarrasing. I hardly think the negligible dollars spent would have had any effect on our social services.
Skelton you are right about our Mayor, Mr. Riordan…what a bag of hot wind he is.
Last add to StoryTyler…I am certain that Kalamazoo, Michigan or whatever like city you are now residing in, provides you with a much nicer living experience than Los Angeles. I mean it is tough to live in a city with great weather, beaches, mountains, entertainment, restaurants, business opportunity and woman that don’t give up on their appearance after they turn 25.
I think the dry conditions excuse is sort of silly. Most of California has been experiencing unusually dry weather, and the Monterey area, which is where I am is no exception.
In Monterey, they had the fireworks out in the harbor. In my city and the one next door, people were allowed to set off legal fireworks. Both towns also run right up into chapparal areas (the same type of ecosystem as in LA. and I can walk less than 1/4 of a mile and find oak woodland).
Lots of people set off many illegal fireworks too. If the fireworks people planned things right, the City of Angels could have had a fireworks show, and not had the spent shells land in the wild lands.
We had a lot of firework shows here; in the Harbor (Long Beach), at the Rose Bowl and at, at least, a dozen other places, just not near the Hollywood sign which is, indeed, surrounded by chaparel and other combustables. Because of the decentralized nature of the events, you didn’t see them on TV.
PS-I didn’t see Monterey represented on TV at all, for that matter.
PPS-I’m sorry Story Tyler had an unpleasent experience here. I suspect that had more to do with him than it does with a city that many of us love.
Words of wisdom from everyone’s favorite physician…
< giggle! >
God YES! It’s terrific here in Kalamazoo!!
(Aw Solly, defensiveness doesn’t become you, but s’ok, I completely understand…)
Here’s a brief synopsis of my LA experience: I arrived in LA to work at a company that had just been bought out by utter incompetents, who (after I’d left their whacked-out management team) two months later had to sell out because they’d run the place into the dirt. Then we had the Rodney King riots. Then there was the disastrous Malibu firestorm, closely followed by even more destructive floods. And let’s not forget that nasty earthquake (which, truth be told, I think LA handled beautifully). Then the lovely and talented Bruce McNall (former owner of the Kings) embezzled $10 mill from my company’s lines of credit causing the owners to file for bankruptcy. Then the owners fired everyone, fought us for unemployment monies AND WON (the hearing judge just happened to be a long-time customer of the company, we later learned - how convenient). So, because I now have no job and no unemployment funds, I must move out of my apt and crash on a friend’s couch. Then the lawyer representing me and my co-workers decided not to represent us on a contingency basis after all (money up front or drop dead), and since we were all without jobs and not receiving unemployment, we couldn’t pursue our wrongful terminations. Oh, I almost forgot the “man” who lost interest in me once he realized my father wasn’t a Hollywood producer (can’t imagine why he thought that, but you know how folks are about “the biz”), and that other “man” who felt that he could only continue to date me if I would lose enough weight so my ribs would show (be a Hollywood bimbo or else!). Then my car blew up on the 10 Fwy. Then… well, you get the picture.
So I think my experience in LA and with its citizens***** more than justifies my personal opinion.
And while LA’s definitely not for me, it still has some redeeming qualities - great weather, excellent beaches, terrific museums, “beautiful” (on the outside, anyway) people, etc. I just happen to think that “Kalamazoo’s” got LA beat, hands down. Come check it out for yourself…
FWIW, I have several very good, close friends in the LA area, but I had to meet them through the Straight Dope - no one I met IRL at the time was worth maintaining a relationship with on any level. Again, this is just my personal opinion, but one that is based on fact. And as always, YMMV.
StoryTyler
“Not everybody does it, but everybody should.” I Spy Ty.
